ANKARA
Turkey's main opposition leader reiterated his support for Kobani, which is under attack by Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant militants.
ISIL is currently advancing on the Syrian town of Kobani, also known as Ayn al-Arab, on the Turkish-Syrian border. An estimated 200,000 Syrian-Kurd refugees have already fled into Turkey over the past three weeks.
Speaking at his parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday, Republican People's Party leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu said: "Kobani is important for Turkey's security. If ISIL seizes Kobani, then we will have a border with a terrorist organization."
He has previously stated that his party would support a parliamentary motion authorizing a ground operation by the Turkish army aimed at saving Kobani and repelling ISIL - as long as it was limited.
However, Kilicdaroglu has also emphatically rejected any deployment of foreign soldiers in Turkey, a buffer zone between Turkey and Syria and a no-fly zone.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for a buffer zone to be established for Syrian refugees as hundreds of thousands of civilians still flee into neighboring countries including Turkey.
Turkey has been pushing for the establishment of a no-fly zone and safe havens in Syria near the Turkish border.
Stating that resisting terrorism is a human duty, Kilicdaroglu said, "We defend the territorial integrity of Iraq and Syria."
Also, speaking at his own parliamentary group meeting, Nationalist Movement Party leader Devlet Bahceli said: "It is necessary to avoid any political proposals that will open the territorial integrity of Syria and Iraq for discussion."
Bahceli opposed any corridor and arms aid for Kobani and added that the foremost duty of the government is to guarantee Turkey's own national rights and laws.
Bahceli also criticized Erdogan, saying: "The aim of overthrowing the government in Damascus is not compatible with our national objectives and principles."
Erdogan said on October 6, "Removing the terrorist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group from Syria is not enough, removing President Bashar al-Assad's regime should be the main target."
ISIL, which already controls parts of Syria, has extended its reach into Iraq since June 10 when it seized the country’s second-largest city, Mosul.
According to the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, at least 24,015 civilians were killed or injured in Iraq during the first eight months of 2014.
ISIL's violence has caused 1.2 million Iraqis – including Turkmen, Arabs, Christians and Yazidis – to flee their homes.
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